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Thursday, August 27, 2015

What Chronic Pain is Doing to America

I came across an article very earlier this morning from the Huffington Post stating that 25 million people suffer from some type of chronic pain in the United States. These types include, but are not limited to, lower back pain, fibromyalgia, and even cancers. To this blogger, these numbers of sufferers have become alarmingly high and very little has been done to cure many of these diseases and conditions. Offering only pain medications to this growing number of people is not a solution.

Many of these sufferers are not only dealing with constant pain but are also more susceptible to depression. Depression in and of itself is a horrible condition that causes its own aches and pains, difficulty with sleep, feelings of hopelessness, and difficulty with concentration. However, certain chronic conditions like fibromyalgia will give you a double dose of the same types of symptoms.

What is not helping these sufferers is that society is taking a blind eye to the issue by making it more and more difficult for an invisibly ill person to function normally. Many sufferers have been forced to quit long time careers because they were told (or felt) they couldn't hack the rat race any longer. I find this sad because there are 25 million talented people out there suffering because there still continues to be people that think a disabled person cannot perform any important tasks quickly. I completely disagree with this line of thinking. Since when does everything have to done in a matter of minutes?

I went to college to become a journalist, and I believe that all writers should write to the best of their ability. To me, that means that a writer should be doing fact checking. Now in today's content producing society, many do not share in my belief. These people would rather produce a retraction article (if they ever even bother) than to take the time to produce something of quality.

And it does not stop with just a writer. Editors today are told NOT to pursue fact checking either unless they have first-hand knowledge of the information being erroneous. I've seen this in a number of job position descriptions and if you don't believe me-- fact-check it for yourself. You will probably wind up feeling just as disgusted as I am.

Today, I thought I'd apply for a content position for a site that supposedly had a great reputation for having top-notch writers. I started the application and found it to be typical since it asked common grammar questions, but then it asked for me to write an essay on a specific topic in under 10 minutes.

I have been writing for over three decades and have a wealth of experience under my belt, but even I cannot write a well-written and correctly factual essay or article in under 10 minutes. That's crazy for even a reputable place to think that anyone could do so!

Why? Because these are not the days of the Britannica Encyclopedia! There actually are shady people catering their words into articles that are nothing more than an advertisement for their favorite political leader or product. And guess what? That means the article is bias! Who on Earth would want to hire a writer that is bias? This was just unheard of a couple of decades ago!

And even though I'm being specific to the writing industry, please don't be nieve in thinking that this sort of thing doesn't happen in other professions because it does. Every day employees are faced with rushing a job in order to please a completely unethical boss. We wouldn't have so many lawsuits today if bosses allowed employees to work thoroughly and efficiently. The times of rushing just need to stop! And not just for the sake of actual pride in a job well done, but also for the fact that 25 million people are counting on being able to contribute to society!

The US is already faced with an epidemic of people filing for disability income. In 2011 alone, the government passed out 250 billion dollars in claims to 23 million Americans according to CNN Money. I think businesses need to now, more than ever, step up to the plate and allow flexible work schedules, as well as off-site/ remote working conditions, for disabled Americans so we can all make a solid and HEALTHY step towards the future of America.

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I, author Amanda Kimberley of FibroandFabulous.com (tm) has never been in the past, or is now, in association with, related to, OR affiliated with any entity known as Fabulous With Fibro. I am not selling any services as a holistic coach, nor did I write any books related to that brand. I am also not associated, affiliated, or related to a patient community group called Fabulous With Fibro that also has a clothing line. I will not ask you for donations of any kind, and I have never done so in over a decade of writing this blog. PLEASE be careful when you are looking for my blogsite in the future. Thank you!

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I obviously run this blog to help all of you, but there are organizations out there that are doing wonderful research into fibromyalgia and chronic pain. One of my goals in 2015 is to be able to donate a portion of any of my fibro book sales/Adsense money. I have usually just broken even in the past few years, but regardless of my earnings, I still intend to donate to this worthy cause. Would you also consider a donation to the National Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Association in 2015?
https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/NFMCPAWARE?code=home%20page